Flowable material separator for the vacuum system of vacuum casting equipment



Nov. 1, 1960 e. R. MORTON FLOWABLE MATERIAL SEPARATOR FOR THE VACUUM SYSTEM OF VACUUM CASTING EQUIPMENT Filed Nov. 28, 1958 WM, my .3 m m Q, mW

FLOWABLE MATERIAL SEPARATOR FOR THE VACUUM SYSTEM OF VACUUM CASTING EQUIPMENT Glen R. Morton, 7025 Sarpy Ave., Omaha, Nebr.

Filed Nov. 28, 1958, Ser. No. 777,030

3 Claims. (Cl. 22-73) This invention relates to separators and more particularly to a separator for preventing the escape of molten material from a casting mold into the vacuum system of avacuum molding machine. In recent times industry has been rapidly adopting the vacuum system in the pro-. duction of molded castings. In such vacuum type casting machines, the cavity of the mold is first rendered in a state of at least partial vacuum. After the cavity has been vacated of substantially all air pressure, the molten casting material is then injected into the receiving cavity ofthe mold. Obviously the result is a casting of excellent quality, uniform density and substantially free of undesirable air spaces. While such a method of producing molded products is most rapid and desirable, certain serious problems become apparent. These problems result from the tendency of the fiowable molten material to first fill up the mold cavity and then objectionably into the entire vacuum producing system. Obviously with the molten material accidentally escaping into the vacuum system it rapidly cools and hardens and the entire equipment must be shut down until the vacuum system has been disassembled and the casting material removed therefrom. To prevent this objectionable hazard some effort has been made to accurately time the machine and to accurately'measure the molten material being injected into a given mold. However, with the best of equipment, the disastrous flow of the molten material into the vacuum system of the equipmentis most frequent.

Therefore, one of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a device that will prevent the flow of molten material from a vacuum casting mold into the vacuum producing system of a vacuum molding machine.

A further object of this invention is to provide a flowable material separator for casting machines that may be easily and quickly cleaned of any casting material that may have passed into it from the cavity of the mold.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a separator for the vacuum system of molding machines that serves as a safety valve in case an excessive accidental amount of molten material passes beyond the cavity of the mold.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a molten material separator for vacuum type casting machines that does not interfere with the efficiency of the vacuum producing system of the equipment.

Still further objects of my invention are to provide a molten material separator for vacuum molding machines that is economical in manufacture and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination, of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my separator ready for use;

Fig. 2 is an'enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the device installed in the vacuum system of a vacuum mold casting machine;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the device taken on line 33 of Fig. 2 and more fully illustrates its construction; and

Fig. 4 is an exploded view in section of the various parts that make up my mold material separator.

In these drawings I have used the numeral 10 to gen erally designate a mold having the passageway 11 communicating with its cavity. The numeral 12 designates a conduit having one end communicating with the vacuum producing means. 'Herebefore the conduit 12 was in communication with the mold passageway 11 for sucking out the air in the mold cavity. It is between the conduit 12 and passageway 11 that I impose my separator and which I will describe in detail.

The numeral 13 designates a cylindrical housing having its end 15 closed and its other end open as shown in Fig. 4. The numeral 16 designates a pipe having one end extending into the housing 13 and through the end 15 as shown in Fig. 2. The free end of this pipe is adapted to detachably extend into the passageway 11 of the mold. The numeral 17 designates a short pipe having its outer end cut at an angle to its longitudinal length as shown in Fig. 4. The numerals 18 and 19 designate two spaced apart flange rings radially embracing the pipe 17. These ring flanges or disks 18 and 19 have a plurality of holes 20 as shown in Fig. 3. Thenumeral 21 designates filter material such as steel wool extending around the pipe 17 and between the two disk rings 18 and 19. The diameters of the disk ring flanges 18 and 19 are substantially the same as that of the inside diameter of the housing 13. The inside diameter of the pipe 17 is substantially the same as that of the outside diameter of the pipe 16. By this ,7 arrangement of parts the stub pipe 17 carrying the disk flanges 18 and 19 and the steel wool 21 are slidably placed in and through the open end of the housing 13 with the right end portion of the pipe 17 embracing the forward end of the pipe 16 that protrudes inside the housing 13 as shown in Fig. 2. When the parts are so slid together, the steel wool 21 will be approximately midway into the cylindrical housing 13 and the outer end of the pipe 17 that is cut at an angle to its longitudinal axis will extend downwardly and outwardly as shown in Fig. 2. The numeral 22 designates a pipe communicating with the inside of the housing 13 between the closed end 15 of that housing and the disk plate 19. The outside diameter of this pipe 22 is substantially that of the inside diameter of the conduit 12 and when the device is installed and in use, this pipe 22 will extend into and communicate with the inside of the conduit 12. The numeral 23 designates a cap detachably embracing the open end portion of the housing 13. In the embracing rim 25 of this cap is a sealing O-ning 26.

The practical operation of the device is as follows: With my unit installed as shown in Fig. 2, the suction of the vacuum producing system will suck air from the mold cavity, through the passageway 11, thence into and through the pipe 16 thence into and through the pipe 17 The air will then pass from the pipe 17 into the outer end of the housing 13. This end area back of the cap 23 has been designated by the numeral 27. From this area 27 the air will pass through the holes 20 of the plate disk 18, thence into and through the steel wool or like 21, thence through the holes 20 of the plate disk 19, thence into the rear area of the housing 13 designated holes 20 of the disk plate 18 it will immediately contact the rather cool steel wool 21 and willimmediately. chill andsolidify thereby preventing. any further passage of the molten-material through the steel wool 21 and into the vacuum system. If and when.this happens it is a. simple matter'to remove the cap 23 andalso the pipe: 17 and its radiallyextending disk plates 18 and. 19 and .the steel wool 21. If these parts are fouled with the hardened'casting material, they are merely subjected to heat in order to melt the casting material therefrom, after.

which i hey are replaced. If any hardened material is in the mold passageway 11 or pipe 16, it is merely necessary.

to open the'other side of the mold and directly drive the slug-inwardly or outwardly from its hardened position within these elements. From the foregoing it will readily be seen that regardless of the amount of overflow from the cavity of the mold, none of this molded material can pass through thestele wool and into the vacuumsystem of the casting machine. In some instances it may well be that the objectionable overflow or suction of the molten material into my device will be'so great that my unit cannot handle it. When this happens my device acts as a safety valve, i.e., the great pressure that builds up inside the compartment 27, due to the shutting off of the molten material at the steel wool locality, will force or blow the cap outwardly and off the open end of the housing 13.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a highly desirable separator of the muffler type for preventing the accidental passage of molten material from the cavity of a vacuum system mold casting machine into the vacuum system line and that the device not' only perform as a highly efiicient separator but also acts as a safety valve in case a great surplus of molten material passes beyond the mold cavity.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my flowable material separator for the vacuum system of vacuum casing equipment without departing from the real spirit and purposeof my invention,

and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In combination, a molding material filter and trap, and a vacuum molding machine vacuum passageway communicating with the mold cavity, said filter and trap comprising a housing having an open end and a closed end, a first hollow pipe extending through said closed end of said housing and adapted to engage said vacuum passageway to establish communication between said passageway and the interior of said housing; a second hollow pipe extending through the side of said housing and adapted to engage a connection from a vacuum source, said second pipe being disposed adjacent said closed end of said housing; a removable filter unit disposed in said housing, said filter unit comprising a third pipe slidably engaging said first pipe and extending between said ends of said housing, a pair of spaced apertured plates adapted to engage the side walls of said housing and fixedly carrying said third pipe, a filter medium filling the volume defined by opposed faces ofsaid plates between said third pipe and said housing; and a removable skirted cap closing said open end of said housing.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said cap comprises a crown portion and a skirt portion, and wherein said skirt portion carries means engaging said housing for maintaining said cap is closing relation on said housing only when the pressure in said housing is less than a predetermined value.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said third pipe has the end thereof adjacent said cap cut at an angle to its longitudinal axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 834,937 Robinson Nov. 6, 1906 1,874,720 Wallace Aug. 30, 1932 1,949,212 Lowther Feb. 27, 1934 2,083,546 Aldham June 15, 1937 2,365,299 Sebok Dec. 19, 1944 2,852,246 Janco Sept. 16, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 152,274 Sweden Nov. 8, 1955 

